The Beautiful Girl Who Asked Me to Pretend to Be Her Boyfriend Didn’t Want to Break up With Me for Some Reason - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Yukata Beauty

“…How do I look?”

That afternoon.

Dressed in a jinbei in preparation for the summer festival, I stood face to face with Shirafuji, who had changed into a yukata with my mother’s help.

The yukata Shirafuji wore was a dark navy fabric adorned with blue and red hydrangeas.

The obi wrapped around her waist accentuated her figure, and because of that, it felt like her chest was slightly more emphasized than usual.

Her hair was still flowing down her back as it always was, but the contrast between the yukata’s deep blue and her white hair made her stand out even more.

By the way, I was the one who would be tying her hair later.

…She’s gotten way too used to me handling her hair, but whatever.

As she bashfully pinched her sleeves and twirled around to show me, she asked for my opinion.

I spent a few seconds observing her closely.

…No, “admiring her” would probably be more accurate.

Ever since she appeared before me, I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off her even once.

But if I stayed silent, she might start to worry.

A lot of thoughts crossed my mind, but in the end, they all boiled down to one simple truth.

“You look so beautiful that I can’t help but stare.”

When I expressed my honest feelings, she held her sleeves to her chest, narrowed her eyes, and softly murmured, “Thank you. I’m relieved.”

That gentle smile of hers was more than enough to call her a true yukata beauty.

“You look great in your jinbei too, Hakuto.”

“Glad to hear it. I couldn’t really tell just by looking in the mirror.”

I wasn’t too confident, but hearing Shirafuji say it suited me put me at ease.

I tend to underestimate myself.

Especially when it comes to clothes—I don’t really have an eye for fashion.

“I had a feeling, but yukatas really are hard to move in. My strides are smaller than usual, and I have to be careful not to trip over any steps.”

“And you’ll be wearing geta outside, right? Hope the straps don’t hurt your feet…”

“That’s true… Shouko-san said I could wear sneakers or sandals instead, but since this is a special occasion, I didn’t want to ruin the look.”

“I get that. Well, we can take our time. The stalls and fireworks aren’t going anywhere.”

“And if my sandal straps break, you can always carry me on your back, right?”

“I’ll just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Carrying Shirafuji wouldn’t be a problem.

If her sandal straps broke, that’d be one thing, but I had no intention of making her walk if she hurt her feet.

The only issue would be having her pressed against my back.

Given the outfit and the setting, I’d probably have no choice but to be hyper-aware of it.

Still, if it came to that, I’d just have to accept it.

“By the way, where’s Tansui?”

“She’s getting her obi tied, I think. Since you’ll be doing my hair, Shouko-san suggested I get dressed first.”

“Got it. I should probably make sure to compliment her too, or she’ll sulk.”

“Even if you don’t think about it, you’d compliment her anyway, right?”

“Who knows.”

Even if I didn’t say anything, Tansui would definitely go, ‘Praise me~!’

I could already picture it vividly, and it’d definitely play out just as I imagined.

Anyway, before she arrived, I decided to finish doing Shirafuji’s hair.

I had her sit in a chair in front of the sink, pulled over my usual comb, hairspray, and curling iron, and asked,

“So, what kind of hairstyle do you want today?”

“Hmm… How about something with a bun? It’d be a waste not to show off the nape of my neck with a yukata, don’t you think?”

“Not sure about ‘a waste,’ but I got it.”

Since she just said something with a bun, I figured it meant I could add some styling to it.

Even though I was used to doing her hair, adding arrangements was a different story.

I pulled up some quick references and started styling her hair into a fitting updo.

“By the way… It seems like in the past, people didn’t wear underwear under yukatas.”

“So I’ve heard. But that was a long time ago. I think they have special yukata undergarments now.”

“You could’ve at least been a little flustered.”

“At the thought of you not wearing underwear? That’s not just a little weird—it’s straight-up perverted.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you were a pervert, Hakuto. As long as your tastes are within the realm of normal, I’d do my best to understand even the more unique ones.”

“Yeah, no need for that effort. Also, I don’t have any unique preferences… probably.”

The only reason I couldn’t say it with absolute certainty was that something that seemed normal to me might be considered strange to others.

…But that was a pointless argument to have with myself.

Seriously, this was not the kind of conversation to be having while tying her hair.

“Why even bring that up all of a sudden?”

“Yukatas are a little hot, you know? Since the fabric is so thin, wearing underwear underneath makes it show through. But if you wear an extra layer to cover it, the heat gets trapped.”

“Ah… I see. Jinbeis don’t have that issue.”

“But I can’t just let the hem slip open either. It’d look sloppy, and if the obi came loose, that’d be a disaster. Even though I know fashion comes with sacrifices, it’s still tough.”

“So… what exactly do you want me to do?”

Our eyes met through the mirror.

A single blink’s worth of silence.

“Let’s make lots of fun memories, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“And take lots of pictures too.”

“Just don’t get so into it that you trip.”

“And… make sure to take in my yukata look to your heart’s content.”

“You don’t even have to tell me. My eyes—and my hands—won’t be leaving you.”

“Same here. I don’t want to get lost, after all.”

Yukatas are great. (They really are.)